Did you know that 100% of ALL the medical issues we see in surrendered tortoises are caused by poor husbandry? Never have we ever taken in a tortoise whose medical issues were not caused by their owners. And believe it or not there have been times we have taken in tortoises from other rescues who have caused more damage than good.
•Have we ever taken in healthy tortoises that were properly cared for? ABSOLUTELY. It’s not that all exotic animal owners fail to research and provide proper care for the animals they own.
•But the fact is the problems we see in tortoises: Metabolic Bone Disease, overgrown beaks, shell rot, soft shell, renal failure, failure to thrive, emaciation -to name a few- have all been caused by poor diet, lack of UVB light or sunlight, improper enclosures, incorrect temperature (the list could go on).
•The sad thing is it is so EASY to make sure your tortoise has the BASIC necessities it needs to live a happy, healthy life. Is it costly? Yes, but you chose the species.
Most often when we take in unhealthy tortoises the owners just didn’t know any better. Maybe the animals were purchased from pet stores whose employees are not qualified to give proper care advice. Some owners are gifted tortoises as kids and were never taught how to care for their pets. On the other hand, some owners know what they should do but just don’t understand the importance of what they research. And sometimes rescues and breeders give poor, misguided, or uneducated information that people believe because, well, if a rescue posted it, it must be true.
It is only January and we have already taken in TWO tortoises in need of medical care from different owners. One may not survive.
PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PURCHASING ANY EXOTIC PET. Especially species that will likely outlive you AND your children.
